Now Playing

7/1/2010 1:20PM

Obama: Confronting the Challenges of Our Time

President Barack Obama said that being an American "is not a matter of blood or birth," but said that "no matter how decent" the 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. are, they should be held accountable for breaking the law.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

I ... this is ... the status fall ... despite the polarization ... and the frequent happiness of our politics ... we are confronting ... the great challenges of our times ... while this work is amazing ... the changes we see quarter always happen overnight ... we made clear is that this administration will not just kick ... the can down the road ... immigration reform is no exception ... immigrants have always helped to build the end of the most comfort ... the gain on America and is not a matter of global ... warmers ... it's a matter of faith ... it's a matter of fidelity to the shared values ... we all hold so dear ... that's what makes us unique ... that's what makes us strong ... a glut ... to help us right ... the next ... great chapter in August ... unfortunately reform has been held hostage ... to political posturing and ... special interests wrangling ... and to the pervasive sentiment in Washington that tackling such a thorny emotional issue ... is inherently bad politics ... the rule ... eleven Republican senators who voted for reform and festive ... now backed away from the previous support ... in this voyage ... states like Arizona ... decided to take matters into their own hands ... together levels of frustration across the country this is understand ... but it is also ill conceived ...